World Music Day 2013

on 21 June 2013.

Music is the universal language of mankind. It is an effective means of communication within and across cultures; a powerful form of expression and communication; and a source of inspiration for some of us. It serves as a remedy, soother of depression, for many of us. Whatever the value that it holds for every individual. Music is certainly a treasure of art whose civilization generates.

The significance of music to all people is indeed unquestionable. Imagine living without music; a colorless, tasteless and dull life close to emptiness. Plato once expressed the importance of music by quoting, "Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything."

The worth of music on human-life was foregrounded in the year 1982 in France. This brought forth the annual celebration of World Music Day on 21 June to continuously illuminate the intensity and essence of music for the world.

Utilizing the slogan of "Fête de la Musique" which simply means "Make Music", World Music Day aims to encourage musicians from all around the world to never stop generating inventive music for future generations.

People commemorate this day, by receiving amateur musicians to perform live in the streets and openly holding free concerts for public audiences. It is a day when music is pealed and played all nights given that certain regulations and restrictions are closely obeyed by the performers.

As in World Assembly of Youth (WAY), we truly respect the role of music in the lives of all people particularly those of young people. Being young, lively and creative, youth always seek ideas and stimulation through listening to the beautiful rhythms of music. We, at WAY, believe that the involvement of young people should not stop at the point of being passive listeners. In fact, young people should be actively involved in music-generating processes as it assists in perfecting their creativity and brings the best out of their skills. The involvement of young people to become music-generators will nurture their appreciation towards professional musicians' masterpieces and this in turn prevents them from supporting pirate-related activities.

Thus today, we support all young people to be musicians for a day. Now is a perfect time to call up all of your friends and gather together to create music of your own. You will be surprised what you are capable of. Extend your wings of creativity today, through those musical notes. Leopold Stokowski once beautifully compares a painter with a musician in following quotation, "A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence".